BR 1715 
J.E25 P7 
(Copy 1 




MEMOIR 



OF 



I NANCY E. EASTMAN. 



Written for the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, and 
Revised by the Committee of Publication. 



- 



BOSTON: 

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY 

Depository, No. 13 Comhill. 

1844. 



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X 

MEMOIR 



Of 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 



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Written for the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, and 
Revised by the Committee of Publication. 




BO 

MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY, 
Depository, No. 13 Cornhill. 

1844. 



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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by 

CHRISTOPHER C. DEAN, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



X 



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MEMOIR 


% 


OF 



NANCY P. EASTMAN 



CHAPTER I . 



Birth. — Early instruction. — Interest in Sabbath and Bible. — 
Teacher's account of her deportment and feelings. — Feel- 
ings respecting prayer. — Conduct at public school towards 
her playmates. 

Nancy F. Eastman, the subject of 
the following memoir, was born in 
Northfield, N. H. Feb. 15th, 1829. 
From her birth she was a child of fee- 
ble health. Her parents were often 
led to feel that her days on earth would 



4 MEMOIR OF 

be few. Although not then personally 
interested in the religion inculcated in 
the Bible, they believed in the reality 
and importance of it as a preparation 
for eternity. This gave a peculiar 
cast to the early religious instructions 
which they imparted to their child. So 
soon as she began to pronounce the 
endeared names — father, — mother, — 
she was taught the Lord's Prayer. 
This was among the first things com- 
mitted by her to memory. It was the 
first seed of divine truth deposited in 
her infant mind. It was the first in- 
troduction of her thoughts to the great 
system of truths revealed in the word 
of God, which subsequently became the 
themes of her daily delightful contem- 
plation and study. When in her fifth 
year, her parents took up their residence 
in Cabotville, Mass. Here for the first 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 5 

time she became a member of the Sab- 
bath school, and of the first Sabbath 
school collected in this village. 

It was a deeply interesting scene to 
see her father from Sabbath to Sab- 
bath leading her, his only daughter, 
and his only child, to the Sabbath 
school, there to be taught the way to 
heaven. 

A few years after, this father stood 
by the bed of Nancy, in her last sick- 
ness ; he marked with all the yearn- 
ings of parental solicitude the progress 
of disease ; he tried to alleviate her 
bodily pains ; he wiped the cold sweat 
from her face ; he gazed upon her with 
unutterable emotions as she ceased to 
breathe. He did not then regret that 
he had, in compliance with her wishes, 
so early, and so often led her to the 
Sabbath school — where she was taught 



6 MEMOIR OF 

the way to live holy, and to die happy. 
The recollection of those scenes com- 
forted him ; and they are still scenes 
precious to his memory, and soothing 
to his afflicted heart. 

She was five years old when she 
first became a member of the Sabbath 
school. She could then read the Bible. 
From the time she first began to read 
to the day of her death, no book 
seemed to interest her so much as the 
New Testament. The conviction 
seems to have been very early made 
upon her mind that it contained truths 
important for her to understand, love 
and obey. Almost daily — while read- 
ing it, would she ask her mother ques- 
tions about the meaning of words, and 
phrases, which proved that she was 
even then anxious to understand its 
truths. 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 7 

Her Sabbath school teacher gives the 
following account of her deportment 
and feelings, as they were exhibited in 
the first Sabbath school she attended : 

" Nancy by her interest in her les- 
sons, and strict attention to what was 
said to her, soon won my affections. 
Whenever I spoke of the love of Christ 
to little children, her eyes would 
brighten, and seem to say, I know what 
that means ; and when I spoke of his 
displeasure against sin, and the punish- 
ment due to sin, her countenance would 
change ; and she would sigh, as if say- 
ing, who can endure His displeasure ! 
how dreadful an evil is sin !" 

It was here that she first learnt the 
Ten Commandments, " which," says 
her mother, "ever after seemed to have 
a bearing upon her mind, giving her 
more correct views of God as holy, of 



8 MEMOIR OF 

herself as sinful, at the same time 
making her more anxious to love and 
obey Him." Here too the subject of 
prayer was presented to her mind, in a 
new and more impressive light, both as 
it respects the duty, and nature of ac- 
ceptable prayer. Her teacher labored 
to show the difference between the 
form and spirit of prayer ; a distinction 
lost sight of often, not only by children 
but by men and women. It is com- 
paratively easy to pray in ivords; — the 
wicked may do this and not forsake 
their evil ways ; but to pray in spirit, 
this is the difficulty ; none but those 
who are born of God, — who love him, 
and forsake sin, can do this. 

Instruction on this point made a 
deep impression on her mind. She 
seemed ever after this to be afraid of 
relying upon the form of words in 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 9 

prayer ; of using words without hav- 
ing the appropriate feelings expressed 
by them. 

About this time it was, that she read 
a book, taken from a Sabbath school 
library, whose teachings coincided 
with the instruction received from her 
teacher. The night following, as she 
was about to retire, she asked her 
mother to kneel by the side of her bed 
and pray with her ; the reason she as- 
signed to pray before she lay down 
upon her bed, was this : — " I have 
read in my Sabbath school book that 
they who go to bed before they pray 
are lazy christians ; I don't want to 
be a lazy christian." From that time 
she began to pray without a set form, 
using such words as seemed best to 
express her own desires. Her pray- 
ers were very simple, but deeply af- 
fecting, by their very simplicity, 



10 MEMOIR OF 

seriousness, sincerity, earnestness and 
tenderness. She uniformly closed them 
with the following petition: — " Lord 
make me an heir of thy kingdom for 
Christ's sake" — a petition, which, 
in her subsequent life, she gave more 
and more evidence to believe was 
answered. 

Nancy's appearance and conduct at 
the Public school were of the same 
general character with that exhibited 
in the Sabbath school at the same pe- 
riod. When she first commenced go- 
ing to school, her teacher writes: " I 
could not help noticing peculiarities in 
her, or, as I was sometimes disposed 
to call them, oddities ; — but beneath 
a somewhat awkward exterior, there 
was a something which I could not but 
admire. If she came to school late, she 
was fearful of disturbing the religious 
devotions, and would remain silent 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 11 

at the door till they were through. 
If her mother told her she must put 
on her bonnet when she went out, 
she could not be persuaded to go out 
without it. She was always very much 
affected if any child appeared light and 
trifling during the time of prayer ; she 
would not say any thing, but her eyes 
would be fixed upon that child, as if 
to administer reproof." 

In all her intercourse with her play- 
mates, she seemed to be very careful 
not to do any thing wrong. She had 
such a sense of the evil of sin, that she 
often appeared like one afraid to act 
lest she should do something displeas- 
ing to God. At that early period of 
life she seemed to set God always be- 
fore her eyes. This was the true 
cause of what appeared to superficial 
observers " oddities " in her deport- 



12 NANCY F. EASxMAN. 

ment. A peculiar reserve, serious- 
ness of countenance, and sobriety of 
conduct, were conspicuous in her early 
childhood, and rather increased as she 
advanced in years ; yet with intimate 
friends and associates she was cheerful 
without levity, and serious without 
gloominess. 

About this time being alone with 
her mother one day, she said to her : 
— "Mother, I should think every body 
would love God." 

Why ? said her mother. 

Because, she replied, He is God, 
and gave his Son to die for us, and he 
gave us all things. 

She seemed to realize in a peculiar 
degree, that all the blessings she enjoyed, 
came to her through the goodness of God 
— especially the blessings of the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ. 



13 



CHAPTER II. 

Confession of faults. — Illustration. — Mother's conversion. — 
Effects of reading a book on Missions. — Secret prayer.-^ 
Pleasure in religious conversation. — Anxiety for the salva- 
tion of her father. — His conversion. — Her joy. — Father's 
affliction. 

In the Spring of 1836 , Nancy with her 
parents removed to Sanbornton, N. H. 

A change of place produced no ap- 
parent change in her character. There 
she continued to cherish the same ten- 
derness of conscience, the same fear 
of doing wrong, the same fondness for 
the Bible and the Sabbath school, and 
the same desire to please her parents 
and teachers, which had marked her 
history at Cabotville. On one occa- 
sion, while at school, having trans- 
gressed one of the rules of the school, 
she immediately rose, confessed her 
2 



14 MEMOIR OF 

fault, sought forgiveness, and promised 
obedience in future. She did not wait 
to be detected in her misconduct and 
reproved before she confessed her 
fault. She was generally the first to 
reprove herself, and the first to expose 
her own misconduct. She could not 
rest till she had made a frank and full 
acknowledgment of what she felt she 
had said or done that was wrong. 
The thought, " Thou God seest me," 
seemed to be ever present with her, 
to influence her conduct. 

She was not a deceitful child, but 
honest, frank, open-hearted and gen- 
erous. 

When she had done wrong, she was 
not afraid nor ashamed to own it, — 
she was afraid and ashamed not to con- 
fess and forsake it. 

The following incident illustrates 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 15 

this trait in her character. On her 
way to school one day, she was urged 
by another child to pick a rose that 
hung over the fence of a neighbor's 
garden ; she did so, without thinking 
at the time that it was wrong, but 
upon reflection it troubled her ; she 
was afraid she had done wrong, for 
she had taken without liberty that 
which belonged to another. She re- 
membered the eighth commandment, 
— " Thoushalt not steal." " I have," 
said she, u disobeyed God." The 
rose lost all its beauty to her eye, and 
all its sweet fragrance to her smell. 
Ifistead of affording her pleasure, it 
gave her pain every time she cast her 
eye upon it, or thought of it. She 
wished a hundred times it was bloom- 
ing again on the bush, from which in 
an unguarded moment, she had pluck- 
ed it. At one time, in her heart, she 



16 MEMOIR OF 

reproached her little playmate for 
tempting her, at another, herself still 
more, for yielding so carelessly to 
temptation. She was unhappy all day. 
At night she hastened home with a 
sorrowful heart, and a. sad counte- 
nance, and told her parents just what 
she had done, and how bad she had 
felt all day, and asked them to forgive 
her, — and, if they thought God would 
forgive her ? She went by herself 
and confessed to God the whole, and 
implored with great earnestness his 
forgiveness. But this did not fully 
satisfy her: "I must go," said she, 
"to Mr. — — , and confess to him how 
I picked that rose, and ask his for- 
giveness." 

This she did early next morning, 
and returned with a tranquil mind. 

Such a tender conscience is a bet- 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 17 

ter defence of property, and a better 
safeguard to the character and happi- 
ness and usefulness of children and 
youth, than all the laws of the land. 
It is the law of God in the heart which 
gives force to all law. No person, 
young or old, should be ashamed to 
have it known that he is afraid to do 
wrong, in what may be thought little 
things. 

Doing wrong in little things, prepares 
the way for doing wrong in great things. 

The daily deportment, the inquiries 
and conversation of Nancy, and the 
spirit she manifested, had great in- 
fluence in keeping alive in her mother's 
mind a sense of the importance and 
necessity of a personal interest in 
Christ. This subject pressed upon 
her mind with increasing weight. She 
felt she could no longer neglect so 
2* 



18 MEMOIR OF 

great salvation. Heavily laden with a 
sense of her sinful and lost state, she 
was constrained to cast herself, as 
she hopes, upon the mercy of God in 
Christ Jesus, and then she found great 
peace and joy in believing. This 
greatly rejoiced the heart of Nancy. 
Who can tell how much that mother 
under God, is indebted to her daughter 
for her hopes of heaven ; and the 
daughter, to her mother for all the joys 
of salvation ! How delightful must be 
the meeting — the re-union of such 
parents and children in heaven ! 

At that time Nancy w^ould not say 
she was a christian ; but she used 
to say : — " I think I love God and hate 
sin, that I love Jesus Christ and his 
people, but not so much as I ought 
to." This indeed was the mode in 
which she generally spoke of herself, 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 19 

when asked if she thought herself a 
Christian. " It is," said she, "a great 
thing to be a Christian : — to be a 
Christian I must love Christ more than 
father or mother, I am afraid I do not/' 
In 1837, Mr. and Mrs. E , re- 
moved to Meredith Bridge, N. H. 
Here Nancy sought a place in the Sab- 
bath school, and such was her interest 
in its instruction, that nothing but sick- 
ness or unavoidable necessity could 
keep her from her place in her class 
a single Sabbath. She w r as led from 
some cause to feel that she should not 
live long. Death was a subject fa- 
miliar to her thoughts. She often con- 
versed with her mother about it. Her 
great anxiety was to be prepared for 
a holy heaven, and to be with Christ 
in glory when she should die. She 
often expressed much gratitude for the 



20 MEMOIR OF 

faithful instructions of her teachers in 
the Sabbath school, by whom she was 
taught more fully the way of salvation. 

It was while a member of this school 
that she read the history of the Sand- 
wich Island Mission, published by the 
Massachusetts Sabbath school Society. 

It opened to her mind a new field of 
thought. Its scenes of thrilling interest 
touched and moved the tenderest and 
purest feelings of her heart. As she 
read, she wept, she rejoiced, she pray- 
ed. She expressed a strong desire to be 
prepared to go and teach tfrose igno- 
rant children about Christ and the way 
to heaven. " If they only knew how 
good and merciful God is," said she, 
" they would love Him.' J 

The feelings thus awakened by 
the reading of that book, did not die 
away with the tears, first shed over 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 21 

its pages ; they henceforth became 
habitual, and led her to take great in- 
terest in all missionary intelligence 
and missionary meetings. 

After this, she was often found pray- 
ing for the success of missions ; and 
whenever an opportunity presented, 
she cheerfully gave, as she had means, 
to advance that cause. 

She manifested more and more of a 
devotional spirit. She would often re- 
tire to pray for her parents — her minis- 
ter, her teachers — her playmates — 
and a world lying in wickedness. 

Previous to moving into another 
house she visited it, examined all the 
rooms, and selected one which she 
wished to regard as hers. 

" Mother," said she, 6 ' may Inot have 
this room V 9 " Why, my daughter," 
said her mother, " do you wish for 
that room ?" 



22 MEMOIR OF 

" Because/' she replied, " it is so 
good a place to read the Bible in, and 
to pray." 

Her parents granted her request ; 
and there in that little room, Nancy 
was often alone reading her Bible and 
engaged in prayer. 

She did not feel that she should en- 
gage in the occupation of the day un- 
til she had spent a season in reading 
her Bible and prayer. 

If her mother wished her to assist 
her in the labors of the family early in 
the morning, she would request the 
privilege of being alone a short time 
first, that she might seek of God his 
presence and blessing with her through 
the day. 

This was evidently of her own 
choice, and indicated an increasing 
desire to be conformed in heart and 
life to the will of God. 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 23 

The necessity of loving and obeying 
God from the heart, here on earth, as 
a preparation for heaven, was a theme 
on which she dwelt much in conversa- 
tion with her mother. 

One evening when several friends 
were visiting her father's house, Nan- 
cy frequently left the room for a sea- 
son. Subsequently, her mother asked 
her why she left the room so many 
times : — her reply was, "the first time 
I went out to pray that God would 
make me a Christian ; the second time 
that he would make my father a Chris- 
tian ; the third time that he would 
make every body Christians. " 

She took great pleasure in hearing 
Christians talk on the subject of re- 
ligion ; especially when their conver- 
sation was evidently the effusion of 
hearts glowing with heavenly affections. 



24 MEMOIR OF 

When she heard her parents say they 
expected a visit from some friends, 
she would often ask : — " are they 
Christians ? I love to hear Christians 
talk about Christ and the love of God, 
and his good cause in the world — and 
then pray." She often expressed 
great disappointment because they 
talked so much about the w T orld, and 
the business of the world, and so lit- 
tle about Christ and his kingdom. 

Her father at this time, was a 
stranger to experimental religion. He 
had, for a short time, tried to believe 
that all would be saved, but this he 
could not do without rejecting the 
plainest and most conclusive testimony 
of the Scriptures, and the strong con- 
victions of his understanding and con- 
science. Still he was far from being 
fully awake to his true condition. He 
had not felt the power of those truths 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 25 

of revelation which he admitted to his 
understanding. Nancy he tenderly 
loved, and she loved him as her fath- 
er, with all the strength of her kind 
and affectionate heart. 

She could not bear the thought of 
his living and dying without becoming 
a new creature in Christ Jesus. She 
made him for a long time the subject 
of special prayer, that he might be- 
come a sincere praying Christian, that 
he might know the joys of Christ's 
salvation. On one occasion, as he 
came home from work, she came from 
her room, and went up to him with an 
anxious, affectionate expression of 
countenance to welcome him, and said 
to him, looking him full in the face : — 
" Father, I am afraid you will not be 
happy when you die." 
3 



26 MEMOIR OF 

" What makes you think so/' said 
the father ? 

"Because/' she replied, "I am afraid 
you do not love God, nor love to pray, 
nor love to read the Bible." She then 
wanted him to go with her and pray : 
she had never heard him pray. To 
gratify her, he went. She urged him 
to pray. " I can't pray," said he, 
" you may." " You can pray, father," 
said she, — " I know you can if you will 
try : — I will teach you how." 

" I used to pray," said he, " when I 
was a boy." " Is that enough, father?" 
was her reply. She knelt down and 
prayed, pouring out the strong desires 
of her soul for the conversion and salva- 
tion of her father. This appeal, con- 
tained in it an argument in favor of an 
immediate attention to his soul's salva- 
tion, which he could not well gainsay 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 27 

nor resist. "Such preaching, " said 
he, " T never heard before ; it came 
home like a dagger to my heart ; it 
condemned me, — it stripped me of all 
my excuses, — I had nothing left to 
stand on, — my foundation was gone." 
" Such a prayer ! — it was more than 
my hard heart could bear." 

But a short time elapsed after this, 
before it was said of this father : — 
"behold he prayeth!" He bowed 
down his soul, as he hopes, at the foot 
of the cross, and there received for- 
giveness, peace and joy. He collect- 
ed his family, took his Bible, read and 
prayed. This was a new scene in that 
family, and one of great joy to all, 
to no one more so than to Nancy, who 
had often prayed for this very bless- 
ing. After this had occurred, she said 
to her mother, " I want you to go into 



28 MEMOIR OF 

my room with me : — I want to give 
thanks to God for giving me a praying 
father and mother — parents who can 
pray for me." 

This was in the midst of a precious 
revival of religion, in which many were 
rejoicing in hope. 

Nancy had never had those deep 
and pungent convictions of sin, which 
she had heard some describe. She 
had felt herself to be a sinner, and a 
great sinner, but she had not been so 
overwhelmed with a sense of her lost 
state as many others. 

This led her for a time to conclude 
that she could not be a Christian, and 
in the way to heaven. She was in 
great distress of mind. To her moth- 
er she said, " I wish for the special 
prayers of all Christians, that I may 
be a Christian." 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 29 

That evening, being alone with her 
mother, she spent in frequent prayer 
that God would have mercy on her soul 
and forgive all her sins. 

She seemed to feel more than ever 
that she was a great sinner, — and to 
see more clearly than ever the free- 
ness and fullness of the salvation of the 
gospel, and to trust in Christ alone 
for pardon and eternal life. 

She became calm — she expressed 
herself as having sweet peace of soul 
while believing in Christ, and loving 
him. She took her Hymn Book, read 
a Hymn, and requested her mother to 
unite with her in praising God. " I 
feel happy," said she, " when praising 
God." This experience gave a new 
and more decided cast to her piety. 

Her father was afflicted about this 

3* 



30 NANCY F. EASTMAN. 

time, by the burning of his shop. To 
her mother she said: — "I hope he 
will not murmur against God for it, — 
for He has been very merciful to him, 
in making him a Christian. I have 
read in the Bible that Job was afflict- 
ed, and he said : — shall I receive good 
at the hand of the Lord and not evil ?" 



31 



CHAPTER III. 

Her parents make a profession. — Her own feelings on the 
subject. — Her baptism. — Influence upon her. — Illustra- 
tions. — Sketches of her character by her Minister. — The 
Author's first acquaintance with her. — " Thoughts on 
God." — Poetry. — Reproof. — Reflections on death. — Letter 
from her Teacher. 

Nancy was nine years old when her 
parents made a public profession of 
religion. 

The scene was one of deep and 
tender interest to her. The impres- 
sion which it made on her mind, con- 
tinued with her to the close of life. 
She said it would give her a great deal 
of pleasure to go with them, and to be 
one with them at the altar of dedication, 
and at the table of Christ, if she was 
only good enough. "I think" said 
she, " that I love Christ — I am not 



32 MEMOIR OF 

ashamed of him — I am willing to have 
the world know that I wish to love 
and obey hint ; but I do not suppose I 
love him enough to make it proper for 
me to make a public profession of re- 
ligion/' Her parents were not dis- 
posed to urge this duty upon her, at 
that early age, although she gave them 
much reason to believe that she would 
be a guest, accepted and owned of 
Christ, as worthy of a place at his table. 

Her parents, in consecrating them- 
selves publicly to God, felt bound to 
consecrate all to him. In choosing 
God for their God, Christ for their 
Redeemer and Saviour, and the Holy 
Spirit for their Sanctifier, they chose 
Him also as the God, Saviour, and 
Sanctifier of their child. 

" I wifl' be a God to thee and thy 
seed after thee," was to them a prom- 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 33 

ise full of hope, consolation, and en- 
couragement. They therefore desired 
to have the seal of the covenant, the 
seal appointed of God, — baptism, — ap- 
plied to their child, both for her in- 
struction and others. 

Their feelings and desires, respect- 
ing her baptism, met with a ready 
response from her own heart. 

"I wish," said she, " to be good 
and consecrated to God." 

She was baptized. It was not to 
her parents, nor to her, a vain cere- 
mony, but an ordinance of God, full of 
solemnity, embodying and inculcating 
many great and important truths, and 
enforcing the most weighty obligations. 
That the influence of this scene upon 
the heart and life of Nancy, was by no 
means small or unimportant, is evi- 
dent from the frequent allusions she 
made to it down to the day of her death. 



34 MEMOIR OF 

Often was she heard by her mother 
to pray, thai she might derive spiritual 
good from her baptism, — that she might 
he truly a child of God, and that he would 
bless her parents for dedicating her to him 
in the ordinance of baptism. 

After that event she did not feel 
herself at liberty to do as others did, 
who had never been thus dedicated to 
God. The following incident, is an il- 
lustration of what ever after appeared 
to be her prevailing feelings and con- 
duct on this subject. At a religious 
meeting of another denomination, some 
of her companions laughed at some- 
thing said or done, and immediately 
turned to see how she was affected : — 
she too smiled. But her countenance 
immediately fell, and deep grief was 
manifested. She went home sorrow- 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 35 

ful. She sought her mother, and told 
her what she had done, and asked 
her forgiveness, — saying, " I have 
prayed that God would forgive me. I 
have been very wicked. I did very 
wrong to smile, because it emcouraged 
the other girls to do w 7 rong ; I ought 
to have reproved them — I ought to 
have set them a better example — I am 
very sorry. It is more wicked for 
me to do wrong than others, because I 
have been baptized." On another occa- 
sion, in which she manifested towards a 
playmate some ill-temper for abuse re- 
ceived from her, she appeared deeply 
grieved for allowing herself to cherish 
a spirit of resentment, and said : — 
" I am afraid God will not forgive 
me, it is so wicked for me to do so ; 
for I have been dedicated to him in 
baptism." 



36 MEMOIR OF 

During the time of her residence at 
Meredith Bridge, she was under the 
pastoral care and instructions of the 

Rev. Mr. Y , to whom she felt 

greatly indebted, for his faithfulness as 
a minister of Jesus Christ. In a letter 
received from him soon after her death, 
he gives the following brief sketch of 
her character as it then appeared : — 

" When her parents first came here, 
I noticed nothing peculiar in her, ex- 
cept her modest deportment, and 
thoughtful countenance. Afterwards 
I perceived, that though serious, she 
was cheerful and amiable. Towards 
her parents her conduct was that of an 
affectionate and obedient child. Few 
children probably have been so guile- 
less and confiding ; and none more 
compassionate and forgiving. Re- 
flection upon her character since her 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 37 

death, has led me to believe, that if 
occasion had called for it, she would 
have exhibited an uncommon degree 
of firmness and energy. She was re- 
markable for docility and conscien- 
tiousness, being always willing to be 
taught, and shrinking from all wrong 
doing. The subject of religion evi- 
dently occupied much of her thoughts. 
She was in the practice of daily secret 
prayer, and expressed a hope that she 
had been renewed in heart ; and though 
her religious character was not so fully 
developed here, as after her removal 

to C , yet I supposed her to be a 

child of God." 

In the Spring of 1840, the writer 
first became acquainted with Nancy, 
at Cabotville. She was a constant at- 
tendant upon his mininstry to the close 
4 



38 MEMOIR OF 

of her life. No person listened with 
a more fixed, earnest attention to the 
preaching of the gospel, and no one 
appeared more deeply interested in its 
truths. She was always in her seat in 
the Sanctuary and in the Sabbath 
school, when well enough to attend. 
Her mind was improved by reading, 
study and meditation, more than that 
of most children of her age, health, and 
opportunities. She was diffident and 
reserved, except in the society of in- 
timate friends. Her love of prayer, 
the Bible, the Sabbath, the sanctuary, 
and good people, became more and 
more manifest from year to year. 
Nothing seemed to grieve her more 
than to hear religion, or religious 
persons spoken of lightly, or disre- 
spectfully. The inconsistencies and 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 39 

misconduct of professed Christians 
was to her a matter of grief. She had 
three daily seasons of prayer, morn- 
ing, noon, and night. 

For her evening devotion she chose 
the hour of twilight, an hour most fa- 
vorable for calm meditation, and sweet 
communion with God. In her seasons 
of retirement, she often recorded her 
meditations for her own improvement. 

Dec. 31st, 1841, we find the follow- 
ing record in her diary : — 



" THOUGHTS ON GOD. 



"How important at the close of 
a year to meditate upon the charac- 
ter of God — to review the blessings 
enjoyed, and to think of the giver. I 
have meditated with pleasure and 
adoration, upon him who has spread 



40 MEMOIR OF 

abroad the heavens, and all their shin- 
ing hosts, — who has clothed the earth 
with verdure, causing to grow much 
that is beautiful to the eye, as well as 
useful for food. He made the birds to 
charm us with their sweet music, and 
every thing so lovely in creation. He 
permits us to enjoy them all. How 
good and great that Gift which ex- 
ceeds all others, the gift of his dear 
Son, to die to redeem us, when in a 
fallen state ! Can we think of his 
condescension to suffer and die, to ob- 
tain pardon and eternal life for us, 
without feeling our hearts expanding 
with love to him ! may I be grate- 
ful for all these blessings, — may I be 
useful to all around me, and glorify 
God." 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 41 

After returning from a ramble over 
the fields, in company with a playmate, 
May 1st, 1840, she retired to her room 
and wrote the following lines : — 

" Delightfully we hail the first spring flowers 
So lovely in the green shady bowers, 
We gather the first of vernal love, 
And pray the gift may elevate us above. 
Sweet flower, retiring and low like thee, 
We fain would have our hearts to be ; 
Like the sweet perfume which it imparts, 
May we shed the fragrance of humble hearts." 

Soon after rising in the morning, 
Sept. 27th, 1841, she thus expressed 
her feelings : — 

" How shall I thank the power 

Whose hand sustains me so, 

That o'er each day, and night, and hour, 

Has bid such mercies flow ! 

Teach me, God, to look above, 

Receive my morning prayer, 

And, in thy boundless love, 

Make me, this day thy care." 

4* 



42 MEMOIR OF 

Evening, Sept. 27th, 1841 :— 

" Where have I been this day ? 
Into what sins and follies run ? 
Forgive me Father, when I pray 
Through Jesus Christ thy Son. 

" And when my days are o'er, 
And in the tomb I rest, 
! may my happy spirit soar 
Up to my Saviour's breast." 

These extracts are chiefly valuable, 
as they exhibit the habitual tendency of 
her thoughts and affections. To God 
her soul was drawn in gratitude, love, 
and holy aspirations, as she contem- 
plated the varied works of his hand, the 
varied events of his providence, and 
the wonders of redeeming mercy, dis- 
played in the cross of Christ. 

Nancy and her mother were on terms 
of great intimacy. They were in the 
habit of having a season of prayer to- 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 43 

gether daily, and they were very pre- 
cious seasons to both. Owing to the 
pressure of worldly business, and the 
increase of a worldly spirit on the part 
of the mother, this season of prayer 
was omitted for a few days. This was 
an affliction to Nancy. She said one 
day to her mother : " I feel very un- 
happy — I don't think it is right to neg- 
lect our season of prayer — we must not 
do so, — let us begin again now, and we 
won't neglect it any more, will we V 
This was a most faithful, respectful, 
and delicate reproof, which failed not 
to produce its intended effect. The 
mother was aroused to duty ; the 
daughter was rejoiced, and peace and 
comfort were restored to her soul. Lit- 
tle did her mother then think, that her 
opportunities of praying with her child, 
were so soon to be past for ever. 



44 MEMOIR OF 

Nancy thought much of death. It 
was a subject on which her mind dwelt 
more and more as she advanced in 
years. Life, she remarked, appeared 
very short, and uncertain. She often 
expressed the opinion that she should 
die young. Every death among her 
acquaintance seemed to bring eternity 
near to her. She would say :— " my 
turn will soon come — how import- 
ant to be always ready !" The sud- 
den death of a little cousin, to whom 
she was very much attached, a few 
months before her last sickness, af- 
fected her very deeply. For a time 
she wept much, — that she should no 
more see her young friend among the 
living, but soon became calm, and said 
to her mother : — " I had anticipated a 
great deal of pleasure in going to the 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 45 

Sabbath school with my dear cousin, 
and in praying with her ; before I 
parted with her last, I taught her to 
kneel down and pray the Lord's pray- 
er. I hope she was prepared to die, 
and is now in heaven. How merciful 
God is to provide a place for those 
that love and obey him, to be happy 
with him for ever, free from sin, — I 
shall soon follow her." This thought 
did not make her gloomy, she was 
calm, serious, and cheerful, and ex- 
pressed a strong desire to be prepared 
for death whenever it might come. 

The following extract, is from a let- 
ter received from a teacher in a pri- 
vate school, on whose instruction 
Nancy attended but a short time be- 
fore her death. 

" I asked her one day, after the other 



46 MEMOIR OF 

scholars had retired : — c Do you think 
you love Jesus Christ V She replied, 
' I think I do love him, but not 
enough/ * Do you think you are a 
Christian V Her answer was, ' If 
I was a Christian I should love Him a 
great deal more/ On further inquiry 
it was evident that this belief of her 
love to Christ, did not arise from ignor- 
ance of herself, and of the necessity of 
pardon through the blessed Redeemer. 
She evidently knew and felt that she 
was a sinner ; and she loved to pray for 
the pardon of her sins through Jesus 
Christ, on whose death alone she re- 
lied for acceptance with God. At this 
time, and on other occasions she mani- 
fested much distrust of her own heart, 
great confidence in Christ, and a strong 
desire to be more like him in temper 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 47 

and conduct. She possessed in an 
eminent degree, that tenderness of con- 
science, which shrinks from all sin, and 
which is the fruit of the Spirit in the 
work of regeneration and sanctifica- 
tion. The commandments of God, and 
the precepts of his Holy Word, were 
evidently the standard by which she 
judged of her own conduct. " 



48 



CHAPTER IV. 

Sickness. — Interest in Missionaries. — Submission and pa- 
tience. — Disposal of her money. — Death. — Review. 

Early in March, 1842, Nancy was 
confined to her sick room and exer- 
cised with severe pains of body ; but 
she did not murmur : — she was calm, 
submissive, and patient. All that 
could be done, was done to alleviate 
her pains, and to check and overcome 
disease. It was evident that without 
speedy relief she must soon die. 
This was made known to her. She 
did not seem to be terrified at the pros- 
pect of immediate death. In health 
she had not neglected to prepare for 
a sick and dying hour. ' 'Mother,' ' 
said she, " we don't want to live here 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 49 

always ; we cannot be so happy here 
as in heaven where Christ is and all 
holy beings. I wonder that any 
Christians are unwilling to die." 

She often prayed on her sick bed, 
that she might get well, if it was God's 
pleasure to raise her up, and if he had 
any good for her to do ; but if not, 
that he would "make her an heir of 
glory for Christ's sake." 

Sometime previous to her sickness, 
Mrs. Thurston, of the Sandwich Islands' 
Mission, was in the village, and met a 
large number of females and gave 
them some account of the people of 
those Islands, and of the results of 
Missionary labors among them. 

She was present and heard her 
statements with deep interest. On 
her sick bed she spoke of that meet- 
ing and that Mission with peculiar 
5 



50 MEMOIR OF 

feeling. She said: "I love the Mis- 
sionary cause. If I get well I mean 
to do more for it than I ever have : — I 
want to go and teach the heathen 
children about Jesus Christ and the 
way to heaven." 

At times the force of disease seemed 
to abate, and strong hopes were 
cherished that she might be spared to 
her parents and the world ; but these 
hopes were soon blasted : the disease 
assumed a more threatening aspect 
resisting all medical skill. 

She was asked if she was afraid to 
die ; " No," she replied, " Christ died, 
and I cannot go and be with Him, unless 
I die too" 

At another time after a season of 
great pain, she said to her mother, 
"God does right; he knows what is 
best for us, better than we do ; — pray 
that I may not be impatient." 



NANCY F. EASTMAN. 51 

Her mother wept. "Why do you 
weep, mother/' said she. " Because," 
replied her mother, "I see you suf- 
fer so much, — and I fear I shall soon 
have to part with you." She then 
reached out her emaciated, feeble 
arms, embraced her mother and said : 
"Dear mother, how much you love 
me — and how I love you ! I shall 
always love you. If I get well and 
you are sick I will take care of you." 

At times reason wandered, and she 
would sink down into a state of deep 
stupor ; and then again she would re- 
vive, and appear perfectly rational. 
She appeared peculiarly grateful for 
all that was done for her in her sick- 
ness. 

In one of her lucid moments, her 
mother asked her, what she would 
have done with her money — a few 



52 MEMOIR OF 

dollars she had in her purse. Her 
reply was ; " If I don't get well, give 
a small piece to each of those persons 
who have taken care of me — the rest — 
all the rest to Foreign Missions." 

This was Nancy's last will and tes- 
tament, and among the last acts of her 
short but most instructive and useful 
life. 

A little while before she died, she 
said. "I love God — he does all 
things well." 

She sunk down into a deep sleep. 

The night passed away ; — the 
morning came, but her eyes were 
closed in death, and her spirit had 
gone to him who gave it. 

She died March 22, 1842, aged 12 
years. 

Her life was short, but it was spent 
wisely in preparing for eternity. 






NANCY F. EASTMAN. 53 



She did not think that she was too 
young to fear God and keep his com- 
mandments, nor too young to die. 
She did not think it wise or right, to 
put off a preparation for an eternal 
state to a future, uncertain day. 

In her early childhood, she made it 
her first great buisness, to please God. 
She sought him, his mercy, the pardon 
of her sins, with her whole heart. Sin 
to her appeared exceeding sinful and 
she was afraid to indulge in it. Jesus 
Christ was very precious to her soul, 
and she wished every body to experi- 
ence the blessedness of loving and 
obeying him. Though a child, she 
was eminently useful. Through all 
eternity her parents will feel indebted 
to her under God, as an instrument of 
leading them to the Lamb of God, and 
of directing them in the way to 
5* 



54 NANCY F. EASTMAN. 

heaven. Her path was as the shining 
light, which shineth more and more 
unto the perfect day. 

Though dead she yet speaketh ; — 
speaketh to instruct parents, Sabbath 
school Teachers, children and youth. 

May many a child and youth into 
whose hands this little book may fall, 
be awakened, encouraged, and persua- 
ded to imitate her virtues ; to seek 
first of all that love and fear of God, 
that repentance and faith in Jesus 
Christ, which will make them heirs of 
the kingdom of God. 



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